


F is for Family

by MsThunderFrost



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types
Genre: Bottom Wade Wilson, Cute Kids, Established Relationship, Family, Family Feels, Little Metal Baby, M/M, Mpreg, Protective Wade Wilson, Team as Family, Vanessa is Dead, Wade Wilson Breaking the Fourth Wall, Wade Wilson Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-05-28 19:08:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15055790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsThunderFrost/pseuds/MsThunderFrost
Summary: "I think that you finally found your 'f' word, Wade."Wade desperately wanted to have a baby. He'd thought that that dream had died with Vanessa. As it turned out, her death would lead to him not necessarily to the family he'd 'wanted', but to the one he'd needed. Because, broken, psychotic, and bloodthirsty though they might be, he knew that they'd always have his back.Well, maybe everyone except Negasonic Teenage Warhead.A series of vaguely related one and two-shot stories about Wade and his new family, including one little metal surprise.





	1. Nightmares Part 1/2

**Author's Note:**

> As noted in the summary, this is a series of loosely connected one and two-shot stories based off of Wade and his new family, with the stipulation that Vanessa is dead and remains dead at the end of the film. If you have any ideas that you'd like to see here, just drop me a prompt in the comments!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wade and Piotr's daughter comes seeking comfort after a bad dream.

It was not unusual for Wade to find himself unable to sleep. Even before Vanessa, he’d had so much blood on his hands that sometimes, the rivers of red continued to flow in his dreams. When he did manage to ‘catch a few z’s’, he’d often wake drenched in sweat and with some sort of weapon in hand, aimed at an invisible assailant. More often than not, he’d merely stare into oblivion and try to count all of the little black dots on the ceiling.

  
So when a little body climbed onto the bed and settled between his pajama-clad mass of scars and the glistening wall of metal that was his fiancé, smelling faintly of urine and shaking with tears, Wade was in the middle of contemplating how mermaids have children – a surprisingly relevant topic to consider, seeing as he’d just sat through the entire Little Mermaid series the day before while attempting (read: failing miserably) to remove bubblegum from his daughter’s hair.

  
Wade shifted so that he and the teary-eyed child were face-to-face, “What’s the matter, sweet cheeks? Much as Daddy loves to cuddle, you’re liable to be squished under a mountain of metal Papochka sneaking into our bed like this.”

  
She sniffled and buried her face into his yellow and black X-Men trainee t-shirt – as if he’d actually wear that in public again after the first time. “I… I had a b-bad dream.” She said softly.

  
“A bad dream, huh?” She nodded slowly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  
Her face contorted in adorable confusion, “You’re not so good at talking about stuff, Daddy.”

  
“Vanessa Anastasiya Rasputin-Wilson, you wound me.” He put a hand over his heart, dramatically flopping back onto the bed. “Why do you think that they call me the Merc with a Mouth? I’m the most eloquent, articulate, talkative person I know -,”

  
Vanessa rolled her eyes, but his little speech did manage to earn a snort-like laugh from the child. “Talking a lot isn’t the same as talking well, you know.” But then, her face fell. “I, um… I had an a-accident.”

  
Wade’s features immediately shifted into a look of concern, “Oh, sweetie… that’s a perfectly natural reaction to a bad dream. Nothing to be ashamed about.” That would explain the faint scent of urine that clung to her skin.

  
“I tried to clean up, I did! I put on new jammies and I took off the sheets, but it soaked through to the mattress and -,”

  
“Sweetie, it’s alright. I’m not upset with you. It was just an accident.” Wade interrupted, but was largely ignored.

  
“Please don’t tell Papochka. I didn’t mean to, I swear! I’m too old to wet the bed -,”

  
Wade slid out of bed, utilizing years of special ops stealth training which never seemed to come in handy in the day-to-day of a mercenary. He lifted the six-year-old with ease, letting her use his t-shirt as a tissue to wipe her eyes. There was a bathroom conjoined to Colossus’ bedroom, which Wade had kind of hijacked since he’d unofficially-officially moved in, and Wade was headed there now. He figured that a nice bubble bath would help make little Vanessa feel better…

  
Sitting her down on the toilet, he began rummaging through the medicine cabinet until he found Piotr’s favorite bottle of chamomile, lavender, and vanilla bubble bath. Once upon a time, there had been a time when he’d made fun of his fiancé for his very unmanly fascination with bubble bath. Then, Piotr had convinced him to take a bath with him and… well… he’d never been able to look at the bathtub the same way again. And, of course, he’d suddenly started to look at bubble bath in a new light.

  
Once he had the water at a comfortable temperature (and managed to locate her Colossus rubber ducky, which had been safely stored in a wicker bin atop the toilet with a bunch of other X-Men related children’s bath time toys – you know what, just for good measure, why don’t we just throw in the Deadpool water gun), colorful bubbles practically flowing over the side of the tub, he helped the little girl out of her semi-clean pajamas and lowered her into the tub.

  
“Now, I like to think that I’ve learned a thing or two from your Papochka about how to comfort people recovering from nightmares. I’ve certainly had enough of them.” He laughed wryly.

  
Vanessa’s silver-gray eyes widened. “You have nightmares, Daddy?”

  
Wade looked at her as if she’d grown a second head, “All the fucking time, sweet cheeks.”

  
“Language.” Wade almost jumped out of his skin as Piotr entered the bathroom, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with one massive organic-metal hand. “What is going on in here? It is almost two in the morning.”

  
Wade turned to Vanessa, who was looking at him pleadingly. Looking back to Piotr, he offered a half-hearted shrug, “Just having some father-daughter bonding time. We’ve been… ah… talking about her new boyfriend. His name’s Joey.”

  
“She is six. She does not need a boyfriend.” It was hard to read his stoic, metal face, but he didn’t seem convinced.

  
“You’re telling me. I was about to storm in there and tell you to head down to the elementary school for a shovel talk.”

  
Piotr cocked his head to the side, “What reason would I have to talk to small children about shovels?”

  
“Your inability to grasp basic turns of phrase never ceases to amaze and astound, big guy.”

  
Unbeknownst to both parents, Vanessa had grabbed her Deadpool water gun and loaded it. She took aim and fired, the stream of soapy water hitting Colossus in the chest with a surprising amount of force. A decently sized wet patch had formed on the front of his shirt before he was able to truly grasp what was transpiring. He swatted uselessly at the stream of water, causing it to spray almost the entire bathroom. Wade and Vanessa merely laughed at the mess he was causing.

  
“It would appear as if I need to change my shirt.” There it was, that no-fail positive attitude. Lesser men would be cussing about ‘who the hell gave that child a water gun’. Piotr, well, he’d just managed to perfect that damned holier-than-thou attitude.

  
“Can you grab a clean pair of pajamas for ‘Nessa while you’re at it? We shouldn’t be too long in here.” Wade said.

  
Piotr nodded, “Of course.” And, far too silently for a man of his size, he left the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

  
Once he was sure that the coast was clear, he turned to Vanessa and asked, “Now, do you want to tell me why you don’t want Papochka to find out about your little accident?” He didn’t like to lie to his fiancé, but he could tell she was really upset.

  
Vanessa looked at him sadly. “Papochka’s always so proud of me. I’m his big girl and only little babies wet the bed and I just…” here, she sniffled wetly, the tears threatening to fall once more. “I don’t want him to be disappointed when he finds out.”

  
“Oh, sweetie, Papochka could never be disappointed in you.” Wade assured firmly, even as he cupped his hands, filled them with water and rinsed the little girl’s silvery-white curls. “Though I think it would mean a lot more, hearing it from him.”

  
“Maybe…” she said, sounding unconvinced.

  
As he took the loofah and started scrubbing her skin, he asked, “Hey, how come you aren’t concerned with disappointing me?”

  
Vanessa looked at him seriously, “Dad, I could draw you a picture of a stick figure humping a unicorn and you’d go threaten a museum director’s life until he agreed to showcase it.”

  
“Touché.”

  
It took about fifteen minutes to get her cleaned up, and by the time he was finished Piotr had come back around to drop off a clean pair of pajamas. When Deadpool saw them, he had to laugh. They had been a gift from Ellie and were the one pair that Piotr couldn’t stand – little chibi Deadpool heads with hands attached to them making various crude gestures. Their little zyvozdochka always got a kick out of them, and she’d clearly needed a pick-me-up, so he’d allow them just this once.

  
“Can I… Can I sleep with you guys for the rest of the night? I promise, you won’t even know that I’m there!” Vanessa assured.

  
And Wade, who knew that this most likely meant he’d end up sleeping on the floor at some point during the night (if only because the little girl simply did not have the strength to knock the giant metal man off of the bed) agreed. “Sure, honey.”

  
Piotr was still awake when they re-entered the bedroom, reading his worn-out copy of War and Peace. Vanessa didn’t seem to mind. She simply burrowed down next to him, throwing her little arm around his massive stomach and resting her head in the crook of his arm. Wade climbed into the small sliver of space that she’d left behind, before pulling the blankets over all three of their bodies. In what seemed like seconds, the little girl was down for the count. After all that excitement, Wade was not far behind.

  
Once he was sure that the little girl was out, Piotr lowered the book and turned to his half-awake fiancé. “So, care to share what really happened to have our zyvozdochka so upset?”

  
“She had a nightmare and wet the bed.” Wade said softly, trying not to wake the sleeping child. “I wasn’t able to get all of the details out of her, but she seemed genuinely concerned you’d be disappointed with her for it. Maybe it’s something you should address with her in the next chapter.”

  
“Chapter?” Though it was difficult to ascertain emotion on his metallic face, Wade was pretty sure he was confused.

  
“Yeah. Like in a story. Try to keep up, big guy.” Wade rolled his eyes. “Anywho… Nessa really idolizes you. It’s actually pretty cool Like, I know she loves us both equally and all that but, you’re like her hero.”

  
Piotr looked down, gently brushing silvery-white hair out from in front of the little girl’s face. “She is good child, if a little misguided.” Vanessa snuggled further into Piotr’s arm, “I will speak with her tomorrow. I will let her know that it is perfectly natural and nothing to be ashamed of or disappointed in.”

  
“Good, good. The author actually did her job and tied up all the loose ends. Time to end, as all cliched family stories teaching a heartwarming message do – by going to sleep.” Wade said firmly, before closing his eyes and fake-snoring loudly.

  
Piotr rolled his eyes, before settling down to sleep as well.


	2. Nightmares Part 2/2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wade and Piotr find out the root of little Vanessa's bad dream.

Piotr loved to watch Vanessa sleep. She looked so peaceful, curled into his side – after their conversation earlier, Wade had retrieved her favorite teddy bear from her bedroom, before re-making her bed with her favorite Little Mermaid themed sheets – her head tucked into the crook of his arm, and her body tucked beneath a mound of soft, warm blankets. He didn’t think that he’d ever felt so at ease…

And yet their conversation from earlier continued to eat away at him. He’d been over the moon when Wade had told him about their little star, had been ecstatic when he helped her to take her first tottering steps, when she said her first word (in both English and Russian)… Each and everything that she did made him so proud. Just the fact that she thought she could ever do something to disappoint him made his heart hurt.

That’s when the idea came to him. Much as he hated to disturb her, it required him to leave the comfort of the bed. As carefully as he could, he rolled Vanessa over and set her head on Wade’s chest. Wade, who’d always been a fitful sleeper, was surprisingly easy to shift into place – he draped the mercenary’s arm over their daughter’s tiny body and tucked the blankets securely around both of their bodies.

“Rest well, zyvodochka.” It was difficult for a man of his size to slide off of the bed undetected, and his absence was not unnoticed. Vanessa let out a soft coo, blindly reaching for Piotr in her sleep.

Wade groaned, reaching blindly for her arm and patting it reassuringly. “Shh… time for sleep…”

Vanessa, thankfully, settled into Wade’s side once more and drifted back to sleep. Piotr smiled softly, before leaning down to kiss her chubby little cheek. “Good girl.”

\--

Vanessa awoke a little while later to the low rumble of the Rugrats theme on the television and the feel of Wade’s scarred fingers carding through her silvery hair. Slowly, she blinked her eyes open just in time to watch as Wade, never missing a beat, reached into the bedside table and pulled out a… cupcake? Was he hoarding food in the bedroom? Her father began happily munching on the sugary confection.

It took her a minute to realize that anything was amiss. Despite the fact that he was virtually never quiet and in almost constant pain due to the scarring, Wade was actually a half-way decent cuddle-buddy – that was, of course, when he wasn’t trying to hog all of the blankets or complaining when she _accidentally_ knocked him off of the bed. And she was quite comfortable in her little cocoon in the middle of their bed.

And that’s when she realized that the hulking mass of organic metal, which had been keeping her from rolling off of the other side of the bed during the night, was now suspiciously absent. The side of the bed where her father had been lying was cold, as if he had not been there for some time. Something tightened in her chest and she whipped her attention back to Wade, who seemed to just be noticing that she’d awoken.

“Hmm… Go back to bed, sweetie. It’s still early.” He kissed her forehead softly, smoothing back the hairs which had fallen in front of her face. “Is the TV too loud? I can turn it down -,”

He’d already started looking for the remote when Vanessa blurted out, “Papochka is missing!”

Wade was not nearly as concerned as he should have been, in Vanessa’s opinion. “He probably just had to take a molten leak, honey. Perfectly natural, nothing to worry about -,”

“What if he needs help?” It was clear that she wasn’t giving the time of day to anything that he had to say. “Papochka is missing, Daddy, and we have to find him!”

“Sweetie, as hysterical as it would be to burst into the bathroom, guns blazing, I really think we have -,”

The door to the bedroom opened so quietly that it almost went unnoticed by the bickering pair. Piotr slowly eased his way in, thinking that his fiancé and daughter were still asleep and not wanting to wake them. That idea was blown out of the water as soon as he heard Reptar’s familiar roar – at least one of the two was up (he’d put his money on Wade) and watching early morning cartoons. Piotr sighed.

He was balancing a tray full of breakfast goodies, including two mugs of steaming hot chocolate that would have put Ned Flanders to shame. He hadn’t gotten more than two or three steps into the door before he was tackled by a solid wall of Vanessa. She wrapped herself around his leg and refused to let go, bearing down with all her weight in an effort to keep Piotr still. Piotr, stunned by the sudden attack, tried not to drop the tray.

Wade, still half-awake and just now realizing that Vanessa was no longer curled into his side, blinked slowly and turned his head toward the sliver of light peaking past Piotr in the doorway. “Oh, hey honey – is that food?”

“You were there when I went to sleep, but when I woke up you were missing! I told Daddy that something bad could have happened to you and that we needed to come find and rescue you, but -,” Vanessa rambled.

Piotr patted her head gently. “Zyvodochka, I just made breakfast. Big girls need to eat so they can grow up strong.” He told her, “Besides, there is no reason to worry. The house is perfectly safe -,”

“When it isn’t being blown sky high.” Wade grumbled underneath his breath.

“Not helping, Wade.” Piotr chastised, watching as Vanessa’s silver-gray eyes seemed to grow impossibly wider.

“Sorry!” Wade squeaked, before making the motion for zipping one’s mouth shut and throwing away the key.

“But what about the mean people that don’t like people with special powers? Like the ones that hurt Russell?” Vanessa continued. “Don’t they know where we live? Couldn’t they come and hurt us, too?”

Piotr’s face fell, “Is that what your bad dream was about, zyvodochka?”

Vanessa turned to Wade, wide-eyed. “You promised you wouldn’t tell!”

Vanessa then promptly broke down into tears, releasing Piotr’s leg and plopping down on the floor with a soft ‘huff’. Piotr, momentarily taken aback by the turn of events, watched as she began to go through the motions of a full-fledged breakdown. Wade, thinking fast, launched himself off of the bed and, grabbing the bear along the way, knelt down to Vanessa’s level and tucked it safely in her arms. She sobbed and threw it back at him.

“Nessa, no more tears, okay, sweetie? Papochka was just worried about you, that’s all.” Wade said, stroking her hair reassuringly. “You know that, when you start crying, D-Daddy starts crying too -,”

“Wade.” Piotr said flatly, his tone clearly meant to be interpreted as warning.

“W-What? You know I’ve never been good with p-processing emotions.” Wade returned.

Piotr turned back to their daughter. They’d never tried to sugar-coat the fact that there were some people in the world who were not kind to mutants – people who would treat them poorly just because they possessed special ‘powers’. And unlike someone like Negasonic Teenage Warhead or Yukio, she could not necessarily hide the fact that half of her body was comprised of organic metal. Enter Russell.

They had not told her the whole story about the boy whom she’d come to consider like an older brother. Some of it was simply not appropriate for six-year-old ears to take in. But she knew enough to understand that bad men had hurt Russell and that he was still healing from his experiences in their care. She helped him to channel his anger, and he helped her get into all sorts of mischief that a six-year-old could never dream up alone.

“Zyvodochka,” Piotr knelt down at eye-level with the little girl. “Just as there are bad people in world, there are good. This house is full of good people – some are lost, some are broken, and some are special, like us.”

Vanessa sniffled, but seemed to be listening attentively.

“And there are good people outside this house. We call them _allies_. They want to help us, and protect us from the bad people.” Piotr continued. “And Daddy, and I, and everyone in this house will protect _you_.”

“That’s right, sweetie. I’ll be your knight in red and black spandex, riding in on a sparking unicorn.”

 _That_ was enough to make Vanessa laugh. “I thought it was supposed to be ‘knight in shining armor’.”

Wade offered Piotr a dopey little smile, “I figured I’d leave that title to your Papochka.”

Rolling his eyes (or, at least, Wade was pretty sure that that was what he did – it was so damn difficult to tell, considering that the man was fucking _made of metal_ ), Piotr whisked their little one into the air and settled her onto his shoulders. Vanessa was laughing, holding on for dear life as he stooped to grab the tray full of goodies, which were thankfully still mostly warm. It was then that he remembered –

“Little one,” Vanessa stooped down so that she was looking at him upside-down. “Why were you worried that I would be disappointed in you?” Her face fell slightly, and he quickly amended, “I am not, I just wondered -,”

Vanessa seemed to consider this for a moment, before sighing, “I… I got scared and I w-wet the bed.”

Wade squeezed her foot reassuringly. “It’s okay, sweetie.”

“No, it’s not. I’m a big girl, I shouldn’t be scared -,”

Piotr interrupted. “Little one, fear is natural. It is what makes us human. A man that no longer fears the unknown is one that I do not wish to meet.” He said, his voice soft. “Fear is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“But -,”

“Zyvodochka, even I get scared sometimes. I am bigger and stronger than most of the villains that we face, and yet I am still scared. So why would I ever be disappointed in you for something so natural?”

“I’ll give you a hint.” Wade said, leaning up to whisper in her ear. “He wouldn’t.”

Piotr looked into the little one’s red-rimmed eyes, “Okay?”

After a moment, she nodded. “Okay.”

Piotr carefully set Vanessa back into the middle of the bed, bundling her in the mound of blankets and fluffing the pillows behind her so that she was propped up once more. He then carefully handed her her short stack of blueberry pancakes and her child-safe mug of hot chocolate, before doing the same for Wade. Wade pouted when he saw that he’d received the same child-proof cup, but Piotr only eyed him knowingly.

“Can we watch the _Little Mermaid_?” Vanessa blurted suddenly, looking between both of her parents excitedly.

“Didn’t we just watch the entire series two days ago?” Wade asked, looking to Piotr for help… who was already digging through their DVDs, looking for the first film. Oh boy.

“Anything for my little zyvodochka.” Vanessa smiled brightly, before kissing Piotr’s cheek.

“Thank you, Papochka!” And as the opening credits rolled, Wade knew it was bound to be a long morning.


	3. Ashes Part 1/3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like all good conception stories, Vanessa's starts with a wedding and an attempted murder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, a special thank you to MeantToBe4Evermore over at ff.net for letting me borrow the lovely Evangeline, and her adorable little babies. Evangeline stars in Meant to Be, an alternate look at X-Men: Days of Future Past. 
> 
> Potential trigger warnings for this chapter include mentions of suicidal thoughts/actions and mentions of PTSD and mental health concerns.
> 
> Written for Yes, who requested the story of how Vanessa came to be.

“Remind me again how you managed to stuff me into this monkey suit?” Wade grumbled, picking at the fabric of his finely tailored white suit in mild aggravation. White had never been his color, and the material was far too tight for his liking.

“Because you are honored guest at young Peter’s wedding. Do not embarrass me.” Piotr said as he gently smacked Wade’s hand away from his tie, which was now quite obviously lopsided. Wade, if possible, looked even more miserable.

“If I’m such an embarrassment, why even bother taking me outside?” He mumbled, jutting out his bottom lip pathetically.

“Because I do not trust you not to blow up mansion in my absence.” Piotr countered, never missing a beat.

Wade frowned, “Do you really think that I would be dumb enough to blow up such a ginormous building with so many witnesses? We’re still in the backyard, for Christ sake!” He began gesticulating wildly with his hands to showcase this.

Piotr sighed, “I understand that this day is difficult for you, Wade -,”

The mercenary rolled his eyes, “Oh, don’t be getting all sympathetic with me now. It’s been two years, I’m not gonna fall apart at the fucking seams.” But the dark, haunted look in his normally mirth-filled eyes seemed to say otherwise.

The metal-man’s features softened, and he placed a hand on Wade’s head affectionately. Softly, he urged, “Do not go where I cannot follow.” Wade swallowed hard, before nodding, understanding all that was left unsaid.

The mansion’s backyard was filled to the brim with heroes. Most were faces that Wade had become familiar with over the past two years, but a few were unknown to him – likely from the days when Professor X had first started his school for ‘gifted youngsters’. The gardens, Charles’ pride, were in full bloom. Radiant white flowers stretched on as far as the eye could see, their petals floating in the gentle summer breeze. Everything was so bright and white and _pure_.

He knew why Piotr was keeping an especially close eye on him, today of all days. Because Vanessa had died before she’d ever been able to walk down the aisle, before she’d been able to officially call herself Mrs. Wade Wilson. Sometimes, even two years later, he found himself absorbed in the fantasy of what that would have been like – to have a wife and a little baby to call his own, the perfect family that he’d always wanted. Instead, he got to watch Peter Maximoff live his dream.

Not that the kid didn’t deserve it. He’d had one hell of a road getting here. Watching the love of his life die in his arms, only to have Logan travel back in time, just to have her almost die in his arms a _second_ time… Seriously, it’s one heck of a rollercoaster, and all bundled up in one nice little package over on fanfiction.net. A real tear-jerker, and perhaps not the best thing to read when trying to get over one’s dead fiancé. Not that Wade had ever been known to do what’s good for him.

Wade wasn’t even going to bother to try explaining how Peter was the same age in 2018 as he had been during his last film appearance, X-Men Apocalypse. They’d fucked up the timelines so many times, even he couldn’t follow it anymore. In fact, _all_ of the X-Men were looking suspiciously young. Huh. Go figure. Maybe Wade would ask what they used to repel wrinkles after this whole affair was over – who knows, maybe he’d manage to look seventeen again.

It was then that he realized that Piotr’s mouth was moving, and had likely been moving for that entire break from reality, and he hadn’t the slightest as to what the big man had said. As if on cue, Piotr frowned, “Are you listening to me, Wade?”

“What? Oh, yes, you were telling me how utterly fantastic my ass looks in these pants. Thank you, by the way. Just think of how much better it’d look if they could make me a spandex tuxedo… Actually, do you think that they could do that?”

Piotr frowned, “Do not be crass. We are in public, and there are children nearby.”

Ah, yes. Apolline and Amadeo (who the hell came up with these names?), Peter’s eighteen-month-old twins, who were wreaking havoc on the decorations and guests alike. Wade did his best to steer clear of the adorable little menaces. They just… They reminded him a lot of what it would have been like if he and Vanessa had actually had a baby. Little bundles of energy that made their parents smile just as often as they wanted to tear their hair out, with eyes like their mother and –

Piotr waved a hand in front of Wade’s face, “Wade, it is almost time.”

Ah, yes. Time to stand next to the shaking mass of twenty-something year-old kid and watch as he promised his life to a beautiful young woman way out of his league and… You know what, maybe he couldn’t do this. “I need to go.”

“What?” Piotr looked taken aback, as if the idea that Wade would back out of their little arrangement never occurred to him. “You cannot leave now. Peter is depending on you -,”

“Look, we both know that the only reason I’m here right now is because his daddy dearest wouldn’t be caught within fifteen miles of this place.” Wade hissed under his breath. “I know how it is, big guy. Just because I’m ‘one of you’ doesn’t mean -,”

“It means that you are part of this family. And family stands by their own.” Piotr said, cutting him off.

Wade’s eyes narrowed, “I lost my family the day that Vanessa died.”

A cold silence settled over them as the weight of Wade’s words hit Piotr full force. Even with his metal face, which seemed to be emotionally vacant most of the time, Wade was able to see how much he’d hurt the larger man. Immediately, he wished that he could take the words back. He hadn’t actually meant them, the way that they had come out… hadn’t meant for it to sound like he didn’t consider Piotr his family, especially after he’d gotten down on one knee… and all the kids at the school…

His train of thought was broken by the trumpet heralding the bridal march. And if Peter had seemed nervous before, the boy was practically _trembling_ now. He’d opted for a silver suit, which complemented the color of his hair nicely – Wade wondered if it was as soft as it looked, and Wade allowed himself to be distracted by the idea of running his fingers through long enough to notice the way that his super-sized metal fiancé was stalking off into the metaphorical sunset.

But Peter only had eyes for _her_. And she certainly was stunning – she looked nothing like Vanessa and yet she was all that Wade could see. That sassy little half-smile that always meant she knew something that he didn’t. Those eyes, bright and beautiful and full of wonder. And that _body_ … shit, the Professor was glaring at him. He must’ve gleaned those last few thoughts off the top of Wade’s head, and was now thinking up new and exceptionally painful ways to kill him.

He doubted that the old geezer could think up anything he hadn’t tried already, but who knows? Maybe today would be his lucky day…

“Blessed are the wicked who are healed by… my… hand!” Nobody saw the gun until it was too late. The shooter had blended effortlessly with the throng of wedding guests, waiting until the bride had made it almost all the way down the aisle to fire…

“ _Evangeline!”_ Peter was screaming, and the rest of the guests are screaming, as her body rocked with the force of the blow and her body collapsed in a sea of bloody white flower petals. And though he was faster than a speeding bullet, he seemed to be moving so slowly…

Evangeline hit the ground with a _thunk_ , her brilliant hazel eyes wide and lifeless. She wasn’t dead, not yet anyway, but the blood was pooling around her, the same shade of red as the hair which was falling from the flower-coated tiara holding her elegant updo in place. And Wade, who could practically _hear_ Colossus’ epic hero-speech in the back of his head, found himself completely and utterly frozen. Because this wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Why couldn’t anyone just be fucking _happy_?

“P-Peter…” blood splashed over her lips as she tried to speak and oh lord, the children were crying. Why did nobody think to shield the kids? Wade tried to move, but found himself rooted to the spot, his blood frozen in his veins…

_Oh, shit. Right. PTSD-triggered panic attacks. Has the sun always been that bright?_

Nobody even noticed when Wade hit the ground, the only one who hadn’t raced into the bloody fray to ‘be a hero’. And as the darkness closed in, he couldn’t help but think:

“Hey, ‘Ness. Long time no see.”


End file.
